by Kenneth Copeland
How much of God’s power would you need to conquer the challenges you are facing right now?
Would the kind of divine muscle He used to create the earth be enough strength to get you through? Would the supernatural light that set the sun and stars ablaze be enough to brighten the darkened corners of your life? Would the divine life force that animated every living creature on the face of the earth be enough to enable you to do the things you need to do?
Sure it would. There’s no question about it. Even a thimbleful of that kind of power would blast every problem you’ve ever faced right into total oblivion. It would answer every question. It would meet every need.
And, if you are a born-again believer, that kind of power is available to you right now.
Oh, come on, Brother Copeland, you might be thinking, where on earth did you get that wild idea?
I got it from the Bible. It tells us quite plainly that Jesus—our own Savior and Lord—is the One who made this universe. He is the author of all Creation, the very source of all life. John 1 says it this way: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (verses 1-5).
The Most Powerful Substance That Exists
Most of us don’t have any problem accepting those verses. It’s easy for us to believe that Jesus has within Himself the awesome creative power that established and sustains this universe. But that passage doesn’t stop there. It goes on to say that “as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (verse 12).
Look at that verse again. What does it say that Jesus gave us?
Power. He gave us His very own power.
The first thing that power did was make us sons of Almighty God. It filled our darkened spirits with eternal light and life. That in itself is a marvelous miracle, yet it’s not all that power was meant to do. It’s also been given to us so we can live every day of our lives in the glory of Jesus Himself.
Wait a minute, someone might argue, Jesus doesn’t share His glory with anyone. His glory is that of an Only Begotten Son!
Not anymore it isn’t.
The New Testament tells us that Jesus is no longer an Only Begotten Son. Now He is the Firstborn of many brethren…and He is sharing His glory with them. He said so Himself. In John 17:22, He spoke to the Father and said, “The glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.”
That’s a powerful statement because the glory of God isn’t a vague, religious concept. It’s not just a feeling that gives us goose bumps or a sparkly, spiritual mist. God’s glory is the most powerful substance that exists. It’s the power that emanated from Jesus when He walked the earth. It’s the power that reached into the pit of hell and resurrected Him from the dead (Romans 6:4).
Yes, that’s the glorious power that is abiding in every born-again believer. That’s the power that’s abiding in you.
#1 Get Wisdom – the Principal Thing
If that’s true, why was Jesus able to do so much with it…and we’ve done so little?
We haven’t tapped into the wisdom He had. You see, no matter how much of God’s power and glory we have, it won’t do us (or anybody else) any good if we don’t know how to use it. That’s why Proverbs 4:7 says, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.”
Some people claim such wisdom is beyond us. They say God’s glory is so mysterious, His power is so unpredictable, that we could never possibly comprehend it.
If that’s true, the Apostle Paul must not have known it because he prayed for believers to “comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height” of the love (or power) of God and be filled with all His fullness (Ephesians 3:18-19). He also said that God “who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).
The word translated knowledge in that verse is the Greek word gnosis. It means “to have a working understanding of something.” It’s one thing to have general knowledge, but it’s something else altogether to have a working understanding. If you have a general knowledge about airplanes, for example (enough to know they can fly), you’ll be able to ride in one. But if you want to fly one, you must have much more specific knowledge of it. You must know how to operate in it.
That operational knowledge is the kind of spiritual knowledge God has made available to us. He never intended us to wander around without a clue about how to use the glory and power within us. He wants us to comprehend it well enough to put it to work just like Jesus did when He was on the earth. He wants us to operate in it.
That’s why we’ve been given the Holy Spirit. He’s been sent to be our teacher, to show us what to do with this glorious inheritance of divine life that belongs to us as joint heirs with Jesus. Because that inheritance surpasses anything our eyes have ever seen and our ears have ever heard, it does at times seem like a mystery. But the Bible says it’s a mystery that has already been revealed to us by His Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).
#2 – Believe and Confess God’s Promises
For us to benefit from that revelation, however, we must cooperate with God. We must begin to believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that He will do what the Bible says He will do. Instead of saying, “I just don’t know how to access God’s power. I don’t understand how to operate in His glory,” we must start declaring that we have the wisdom of God. We must start saying and believing that we have the very mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16).
When I was attending Citation X flight school I experienced for myself the difference that can make. I realized within the first few days of classes that, naturally speaking, I was going to have difficulty retaining all the information we were receiving. It was like trying to drink water from a fire hose. There was just too much to take in.
When I prayed about the situation, a close friend reminded me of Psalm 119:97-99. It says: “O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.”
As soon as I took hold of those promises by faith and began confessing them several times a day, my retention in those classes went up at least 50 percent. During the final exam, the Holy Spirit gave me wisdom again and again. When I’d start to give a wrong answer, He’d correct me. If I got stuck figuring a mathematical problem, I’d pray in the spirit and He’d show me where I was missing it. The very wisdom of God Himself became mine at flight school because I believed it in my heart and declared it with my mouth.
#3 – Put God’s Word to Work
“That’s fine for you, Brother Copeland, because you have a special ministry. But that kind of thing won’t work for me.”
Yes it will. According to the Bible, faith-filled words will work for anybody who will put them to work. Jesus told us so Himself in Mark 11:22-23. He said: “Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”
According to those verses, it doesn’t matter who you are—whosoever is whosoever. If you have faith in God and believe what you say will come to pass, your words can move mountains.
Why is that?
It’s because faith-filled words release the creative power and glory of God that’s residing within you. They transfer the life of Jesus, which is heaven’s power, to earth.
That shouldn’t surprise you. After all, God has been using words to release His power from the beginning. He created everything on earth by speaking words. Jesus is called the Word of Life and the Bible says He upholds all things by the Word of His power (1 John 1:1; Hebrews 1:3).
God’s very life and glory and power have always been contained in and conveyed by His Word; and—wild as it may seem—as His children, we’ve been given the privilege and the divine command to put His Word to work. God has instructed us to keep it before our eyes, in our ears and in our heart; to draw faith out of it; and then speak it. When we do, it releases God’s creative power and glory just as surely as if Jesus Himself had spoken it.
Hebrews 3:1 confirms that. It says Jesus has been appointed and anointed to see to it that when we declare His Word, it comes to pass. He is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.
The problem is, we’ve been fouling things up by filling our mouths with stuff Jesus never said. Instead of saying, “I’m healed,” we’ve been saying, “Oh, I believe I’m getting the flu.” Instead of saying, “God meets all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus,” we’ve said, “I’ll never be able to pay these bills.” He said we would have what we say. We’ve been saying what we have.
All the while, the very glory of God has been there inside us with enough power to heal every sickness and enough ability to meet every need. But we haven’t had the wisdom to open our mouths and put it to work.
I can tell you from personal experience, exercising that wisdom will make all the difference. I was reminded of that again recently as I was overcoming a problem I’d had with my back over the past few years. I first prayed and believed I received healing for it in August 2000, but the full manifestation didn’t come as quickly as I knew it should.
As I sought the Lord about it, He led me to get Dodie Osteen’s little book, Healed of Cancer. There is a list of healing scriptures printed in it and I began confessing those scriptures every day…every day…every day. For a while, I just had to make myself say them. But the more I confessed them, the easier it became. Revelation just kept rising in my spirit until one day those words began to fly out of my mouth with power and faith behind them.
The more I did that, the more God’s power worked in my body. When I started, I couldn’t walk five minutes without excruciating pain. Now I can walk on the treadmill for an hour. I’m a healed man. I’m a free man spiritually and physically because those faith-filled words released the glory of God into my bones and nerves and muscles.
Even today, I’m still speaking…and it’s still working. I don’t intend to stop either. I mean to stick with it and encourage every other believer who will listen to do the same. I am convinced it’s time for us to live in the glory we’ve been given. It’s time for us to operate more fully in the life and power of Jesus that’s within us.
It’s time for us to keep rising and rising in that glory until one day before too long, the trumpet blows and we take one more step of faith, out of these old, carnal bodies and into the glorified bodies God has prepared for us.
Even now, we’re barreling toward that moment like a freight train. Jesus is coming soon, so let’s start living in the glory. Let’s put it to work transforming not only our own lives but the lives of those around us. Let’s use it to heal the sick, deliver the oppressed and win the lost by the millions.
If we’ll live in the glory, when Jesus comes for us we will surely be ready to go.
